CN111546796B

CN111546796B - Method for stamping mailpieces supplied to a stamping machine and device for carrying out the method

Info

Publication number: CN111546796B
Application number: CN202010086663.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: T.P.豪格
Original assignee: Frama AG
Current assignee: Frama AG
Priority date: 2019-02-11
Filing date: 2020-02-11
Publication date: 2024-04-16
Anticipated expiration: 2040-02-11
Also published as: EP3693306B1; EP3693306A1; CN111546796A; US11538285B2; US20200258319A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device for performing the method for stamping a mailpiece supplied to a stamping machine, in particular for stamping a mailpiece supplied to a stamping machine, such as an envelope, a mailpiece bag, an envelope or the like, which is drawn out for separation from or on the underside of a stack and/or individually supplied to a printing unit for stamping with a printing head on a transport section arranged upstream of the stamping machine, and after stamping is drawn out from the printing unit in the opposite transport direction, the mailpiece is supplied to the stamping machine via a switch section of the transport section and after stamping is transported via a switch section turned to change the transport direction of the mailpiece into a placement device arranged below the switch section, the mailpiece is guided in a through-opening region of the stamping machine into a printing position and is returned from the printing position, and the printing position of the mailpiece supplied to the printing unit is determined by the printing head controlled in motion from a preparation position as a function of its opening length.

Description

Method for stamping mailpieces supplied to a stamping machine and device for carrying out the method

Technical Field

The invention relates to a method for stamping a mailer, such as an envelope, mailer bag, envelope, card, label, printed product or the like, supplied to a stamping machine, which is drawn out for separation from or on the underside of a stack and/or individually fed to a printing unit for printing/stamping, which is associated with the printing machine, upstream of a transport section of the stamping machine, and is drawn out from the printing unit in the opposite transport direction after stamping, wherein the mailer is supplied to the printing unit of the stamping machine via a switch section of the transport section and is transported after stamping via a switch section (sometimes referred to as a switch) that is turned in order to change the transport direction of the mailer into a placement device arranged below the switch section, wherein the mailer is guided into a printing position in a throughput region of the stamping machine and is guided back from the printing position after the printing process.

Background

In the known embodiments of a printing machine for stamping or printing of split books (formats) C5, C5/6 and C6 (the last split is also referred to in the technical field as a short message), but also other split mailings (workpieces), the mailings are inserted/pushed individually by hand and guided at one side edge (side edge for short) into a housing opening of the printing machine facing the operator until a stop is reached, at which the printing process is triggered. The printing process is carried out after the positioned mailpiece has been lifted into a printing position below the printing path of the printing heads in the existing printing units or printing mechanisms of the printing press.

The housing opening is equipped with a lateral outlet for the purpose of printing the larger mailpiece, through which the mailpiece is ejected or removed from the printer after printing/stamping.

If such a simple, manually operable printing press should be equipped for the attachment of a separating device with a feeder for stacked mailpieces (as described and shown, for example, in european patent application No. 18 405 019.3), the mailpiece C6 (short message) may not reach the printing position or be transferred into the printing position and retrieved therefrom due to the short longitudinal edges, since the transport device upstream of the printing press is not configured for mechanically/friction-fittingly transporting the mailpiece into the printing position and is not configured for guiding the mailpiece back or out of the printing device or the printing press.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention is therefore based on the task of further developing, in a simple manner, a printing machine by means of which, including the usual deposit form, a small deposit form C6 of a stacked identical deposit form or a small deposit form C6 mixed with other deposit form can also be processed individually.

According to the invention, the task is solved by: the printing position of the respective feed element supplied to the printing unit is determined by the (driven) printing head which is controlled in motion from the ready position as a function of the open length (length in the transport direction) of the feed element, so that the printing process can be carried out by means of the printing device not only semi-automatically but also in a fully automatic and reliable manner in combination with the printing cycle for all open sizes of the feed element, and also for less than DIN open C5/6 (220 x110 mm), for example C6.

The printing process/printing path and its resetting in the readiness position of the printing head to the mailpiece and the defined printing position and the removal of the printed/imprinted mailpiece are advantageously effected by means of a sensor which is fastened to the printing head and is operatively connected to the controller.

Preferably, in a convincing, operator-friendly operating mode, the sensor-activated print head causes a printing process when the mailpiece reaches the printing position in the printing machine, and the printed mailpiece is then returned from the printing position into the placement device and the print head is reset into the ready position for the subsequent mailpiece.

The printing process for mailpieces smaller than DIN opening C5/6 can expediently also be initiated by manual actuation of a button or a touch-screen-induced control command connected to the programmed controller.

The printing process/printing stroke is started in the ready position of the print head.

It has proven to be advantageous to carry out the processing in accordance with the processing cycle of the printing machine of the stamping machine or of the printing mechanism of the stamping machine or of the separating device.

The ready or operating position for the printing process can be preceded by a rest position (service position) for the printing head, which can be actuated, in which rest position the printing head is in the rest position or in the rest position, for example for servicing the printing mechanism.

An alternative possibility for processing a mailpiece in a printing machine according to the invention consists in using a correspondingly position-controlled end stop in the transport direction of the length of the mailpiece for determining the printing position of the mailpiece in the printing machine, so that the printing heads are displaced from the ready position into the respective printing position even if the mailpiece lengths differ, wherein for each printing process the printing heads are displaced back into the ready position for the next printing process or the next mailpiece and are correspondingly adjusted to the ready position for the printing heads when the mailpiece opening costs change.

Advantageously, the length or width of the opening of the mailpiece measured on the transport path from the separating/feeding station of the stacked or individually fed mailpieces to the printing press can be used to determine the printing position of the mailpiece and the readiness position and triggering of the printing path and the resetting of the printing head to the end stop in the readiness position or controllable adjustable for the printing process, so that reproducible processing steps can be realized in the printing press.

For the printing process, it has proven expedient to guide the mailpiece mechanically/friction-fittingly under the printing head and to fix it there, in order to be able to print and remove the mailpiece reliably in the printing mechanism.

A simple measure which has proven to be a measure for interference-free stamping is that the printing position of the printing head is transferred by the length of the register element detected/measured on the transport path/transport section for controlling the printing head into the printing head position of the printing head calculated/determined by the controller.

For this purpose, the length of the mailpiece can be measured at the transport section between one or two measuring points, for example LS1 and LS2, or between further measuring points, and the measurement result is transmitted to the controller for positioning the printing head for the printing process or for determining the printing position in the stamping machine.

The distance between the two measuring points at the conveying section is smaller than or at least the length of the shortest mailpiece to be processed (for example, the opening C6), for which purpose the two measuring points need to be covered by the mailpiece.

Alternatively, the length of the passage of the mailpiece can be measured directly after the separation by means of the circumference of the driven conveyor roller with only one grating.

Device for stamping a mailpiece supplied to a stamping machine, such as an envelope, a mailbag, an envelope, a card, a label, a printed product or the like, which is drawn out for separation from or at the underside of the stack and/or individually fed to a printing unit for stamping with a printing head on a transport section of the transport device which is arranged upstream of the stamping machine, and is drawn out from the printing unit in the opposite transport direction after stamping, wherein the mailpiece is supplied to the stamping machine via a switch section of the transport section and is transported after stamping via a switch section which is turned in order to change the transport direction of the mailpiece into a placement device arranged, wherein the mailpiece is guided in a pass-through region of the stamping machine into a printing position and is returned from the printing position, wherein the printing position of the mailpiece supplied to the printing unit in each case is determined by the printing head which is controlled in motion from the preparation position as a function of the opening length of the mailpiece, which printing position allows printing of a size of a copy smaller than C5/6 and a further opening/or smaller printing of the copy.

The processing can be further optimized if the opening area into the printing unit of the printing press is formed by a holding device acting mechanically or friction-fittingly on the mailpiece in the printing position, preferably after printing (advantageously in the end area of the mailpiece fed to the printing unit).

For simplicity, the holding device is formed by a pair of conveying rollers which are arranged one above the other and form a conveying gap and reliably guide the mailpieces transported via the switch section into the printing well.

Drawings

The invention is explained below by way of example with reference to the cited prior art and the attached drawings (reference is made to the drawings in respect of all the details not mentioned in more detail in the description). In the drawings:

fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section through a printing device for processing mailpieces of the type mentioned in the introduction, formed by a separating device and a printing machine connected in a conveying manner, viewed in the conveying direction of the mailpieces,

fig. 2 shows the printing apparatus according to fig. 1, wherein the lowermost mailpiece of the stack has left the separating device in the direction of the printing machine, and the printing head awaits control instructions in the ready position of the printing machine,

fig. 3 shows a printing device with a mailpiece arriving between them and fixed in a printing position and a print head shown by a dot-dash line, which is displaced further during the printing process from the ready position according to fig. 2, and

fig. 4 shows the print head displaced back into the ready position and the mailpiece transported/thrown in the direction of the placement device (back) after the printing process.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 to 4 show a printing device 1 for printing/stamping various types of mailers 2, such as envelopes, mailer bags, envelopes, cards, labels, printed products or the like, of different types of costs, for example, C4 to C6.

Unpublished EP 18 405 019.5 discloses a device of the same type.

The present printing apparatus 1 (as illustrated in fig. 1) is composed of a machine for printing or stamping mailpieces 2 (referred to as a stamping machine 3) and a separating device 4 upstream of the machine, in which the mailpieces 2 are fed in stacks 5 or individually, wherein the mailpieces 2 to be processed/stamped can also have different thickness dimensions.

Fig. 2 shows the device 1 after the lowermost mailpiece 2 has been extracted from the stack 5. The extracted mailpiece 2 is placed on a transport section 6 which connects the separating device 4 to the printer 3.

In the region of the separating device 4, the conveying section 6 has two conveying rollers 7,8 forming a slightly inclined conveying plane, which guide the separated mailpieces 2 in a manner of placement, are currently of the same circumference and are arranged one after the other transversely to the conveying direction F and are driven in the same direction according to the arrow direction. The conveyor rollers 7,8 are supported at lateral ends in the housing 9 or frame.

The mailpieces 2 are first gripped at the conveyor rollers 8 by means of a rest unit (Anstellorgan) 10 of the separating device 4.

Once the extracted mailpiece 2 is gripped by the conveyor rollers 7,8 and the abutment unit 10, it is transported further and guided between the conveyor roller pairs 11 following at the formed conveying plane/conveying section, wherein at least the lower conveyor roller 12 is driven, and the upper conveyor roller 13 is arranged freely rotatably and yieldingly on the lower conveyor roller 12 and with a friction-fit conveying gap with the latter.

The mailpiece 2 fed for processing reaches the separating device 4 with a front edge position in the transport direction F precisely or with a suitable guide surface 14 of the feeder 15, which extends over the width of the transport plane. A feeder of this type is described in EP 18 405 019.3 mentioned at the beginning.

Fig. 2 shows a transport plane 16 at the transport section 6, which terminates before the printing press 3 or in the printing press 3 in the printing position of the mailpiece 2. A space is available below the transport section 6 between the separating device 4 or its end and the printing press 3, which space is provided as a placement device 17 for the post-processing of the removed mailpieces 2 from the printing press 3 after printing and is delimited upwardly by a guide plate 18. The feeding-in of the transport section 6 to the printing machine 3 or the feeding-out of the printing machine 3 is formed by pairs 19 of transport rollers arranged one above the other, which form transport gaps extending transversely to the transport direction F, wherein the lower transport rollers 20 are driven and the upper transport rollers 21 supported on them are pressed down by a yielding spring force. The conveyor roller pair 19 has, for example, the wrapping speed of the upstream conveyor roller pair 11 and receives the transported mailpiece 2.

The placement device 17 located below the guide plate 18 has a placement base 22 for the printed mailpieces 2 which are discharged back from the printing machine 3 and are placed there/stacked. Above the placement base 22 and below the guide plate 18, a pivotable switch 23 for guiding the mailings is arranged, which serves, on the one hand, to allow the mailings 2 determined for printing to reach the printing machine 3 without interference on the transport path between the separating device 4 and the printing machine, and, on the other hand, to keep clear the return path of the mailings 2 from the printing machine 3 into the placement device 17 below the switch 23.

The switch 23 (adjusting device) shown in the drawing consists of a switch tongue (Weichenzunge) 25 which can be pivoted about an approximately horizontal axis 24 extending transversely to the transport direction F of the mailing piece 2, can be pivoted upward on its own axis 24, preferably up to a pivot/rest on the guide plate 18, as a result of uneven weight distribution, so that an upwardly directed deflection effect is produced by the passing mailing piece 2 against a guide tongue 26 struck at the free end of the switch tongue 25 at the supplied mailing piece 2 and against a heavier counter weight 27 on the side opposite to the axis 24, which deflection effect is overcome and thus a guide aid is formed.

It is obvious that the switch tongue 25 can also be driven in a motor-driven manner (in a coordinated manner in terms of beats after shipping the mailer), in particular for processing thin mailers 2 which have an unstable stiffness to the downward-acting movement of the guide tongue 26 of the switch tongue 25 away from the guide plate 18 for forming the conveying gap.

The upwardly deflected (ausschlagen) switch rail 25 is also used for the mailing piece 2 to be fed from the printing press 3 to the depositing device 17 or for the delivery path of said mailing piece into the depositing device 17 to remain clear. That is to say, the mailings 2 fed to the stamping machine 3 slide along the guide plate 18 and the guide rail 26 or between the guide plate 18 and the guide rail 26 or on the conveyor section 6 between the conveyor rollers 20,21 and are transported by said conveyor rollers into the stamping machine 3 through the conveyor device 50 and the housing opening 28 of the stamping machine 3, which are mounted next to one another.

In this way, it is possible to arrange or add a conveying device 50 or a separating device 4 next to the individual printing presses 3 shown for manual handling of the individual mailpieces 2, so that automatic processing of the mailpieces 2 in stacks or individually fed can take place via the printing press 3 or directly via the printing press 3.

Fig. 1 to 4 show a printing device 1 which is mounted together with a separating device 4 and a printing press 3. Fig. 1 shows the printing unit 1 in a non-operating state. The horizontal open printing wells 29 forming the ends of the transport section 6, to which the mailpieces 2 are individually fed in each case, are part of a printing mechanism 30 arranged in the printing machine 3.

The printing head 31 of the printing mechanism 30, which is movable on the horizontal guide rail 32 by means of the traction means drive 33, is in a temporary starting position a according to fig. 1, from which it is displaced into a ready position B (see fig. 2) before the printing process/printing stroke. The traction means drive 33, which is formed by a stepping motor or a servomotor or a similar electric motor, is connected to a controller/control 35, which transmits the respective position to the traction means drive 33/motor on the basis of the measured or determined data.

The print head 31 has a sensor 34 connected to a control 35 on the front side facing the front edge of the approaching mailpiece 2, by means of which sensor the mailpiece 2 arriving in the printing well 29 or in the printing position triggers a signal for a control command directed to the control 35 and the printing mechanism 30 is supplied with the required drive power in that the printing path of the print head 31 from the ready position B, the printing process/printing path of the print head 31 into the ready position B and the resetting movement of the print head 31 into the ready position B, and the delivery of the printed mailpiece 2 are brought about by the reversal of the conveyor roller pair 19 (in this order).

Fig. 2 shows the situation in which the printing head 31 is displaced from the initial position a indicated by a dash-dot line into the ready position B and the mailpiece 2 is located on the transport section 6 in the direction F toward the printing press 3, where it is gripped directly in front of the printing press 3 by the transport roller pair 19 and is introduced in a friction fit into the open printing well 29 directed toward the transport section 6 and is fixed in a defined printing position.

When the mailpiece 2 arrives or is detected by the sensor 34 (raster), the printing process/printing path of the printing head 31 is triggered, and after that (as already mentioned) the printing head 31 is moved back into the ready position B by the control 35 and the printed mailpiece 2 held in the conveyor roller pair 19 remains resting in the resting device 17 from the printing well 29 by means of the inversion of the driven conveyor roller pair 19 during the printing process.

Then, the cycle is repeated at least in terms of opening a "short message" or a mailing piece 2 having a cost of C6 or less.

Fig. 3 discloses a mailer 2 fed to a printing position in a printing well 29 and a print head 31 (with the depicted dashed lines) in a ready position B prior to a printing process/printing run, wherein the relevant mailer 2 remains sandwiched between the conveyor rolls 20,21 of the conveyor roll pair 19 during the printing process and is released therefrom by an inverting movement of the conveyor rolls 20,21 after printing or for loading the placement device 17.

Fig. 3 continues to show the end position of the print head 31 after the printing process or after the printing stroke has been completed by a dash-dot line. The double arrow indicates the printing movement of the print head 31 and the resetting movement into the ready position B. The resetting movement can preferably be automatically adapted or adjusted according to the mailpiece opening.

Fig. 4 shows the printing apparatus 1 after the printing process, when the printing head 31 is displaced back into the ready position B and when the transport rollers 20,21 are moved in reverse for transporting the mailings 2 against the supply direction from the printing press 3 or its printing mechanism 30 into the depositing device 17 (when the switch tongue 25 is adjusted (turned) upwards).

The controller or control device 35 is symbolically shown in fig. 2. A grating 36 connected to the control unit 35 is arranged on the conveyor section 6, preferably directly upstream or downstream of the conveyor roller pair 11 in the conveying direction F, as a pulse/signal sensor of the measuring point LS1, which grating transmits a first signal to the control unit when the front edge of the mailpiece 2 enters and a further signal to the control unit when the rear edge of the mailpiece 2 leaves, which further signal is configured for a length measurement of the mailpiece 2 passing over the conveyor section 6, and, based on the values measured at the measuring point, transmits corresponding pressure and position information to the printing head 31 or the retractor drive 33. A control line 38 is provided for transmitting drive energy. The signal transmission of the grating 36 to the controller 35 at the conveying section 6 takes place via a control line 39.

As already described again above, the processing or the stamping in the stamping machine, in particular the stamping of mailpieces 2 of less than or equal to C5/6, can take place via manual actuation of a button or a touch screen 40 connected to the control 35, which button or touch screen is connected to the control 35 via a line, which displaces the printing head 31 via the sensor 34 into the corresponding ready position before the printing stroke, wherein the sensor 34 transmits the arrival of the mailpieces 2 to the control 35 via a signal line 41 and thus triggers the printing process.

Alternatively, the processing can take place automatically by placing the mailpiece 2 in the separating device 4 via the letter-triggering lever 49. The letter triggering lever 49 outputs a control pulse to the control unit 35 via the light grating 48, which triggers the processing or the stamping.

Claims

1. Method for stamping a mailpiece supplied to a stamping machine, which is drawn out for separation from or at the underside of a stack and/or individually fed onto a transport section preceded by the stamping machine to a printing unit for stamping having a printing head and is guided out of the printing unit after the stamping in the opposite transport direction, wherein the mailpiece is supplied to the stamping machine via a switch section of the transport section and is transported after the stamping via the switch section turned to change the transport direction of the mailpiece into a placement device arranged below the switch section, wherein the mailpiece is guided in a throughput region of the stamping machine into a printing position and is guided back from the printing position, characterized in that the printing position of the mailpiece supplied to the printing unit is determined by the printing head controlled in motion from a preparation position as a function of the opening length of the mailpiece.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mailer is an envelope, mailer bag, envelope, card, or label.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mailpiece is a printed product.

4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the printing process/printing stroke of the print head and its resetting into the ready position and the printing position of the mailpiece and the removal of the printed/stamped mailpiece are effected by means of a sensor fixed at the print head and connected to a controller.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that a sensor-activatable print head causes the printing process when the mailpiece reaches the printing position in the printing machine, and that the printed mailpiece is then returned from the printing position into a placement device and the print head is reset into the ready position.

6. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the processing is performed in accordance with the processing tact of the printer or the printing mechanism of the printer or a separate device.

7. Method according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the printing process for mailpieces smaller than 220x110mm is effected by manual manipulation of a key or touch screen connected to a programmed controller or a control command caused by means of a letter triggering lever (49) of a separate device.

8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the printing process/printing stroke is started in a ready position of the print head.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the print head is displaceable from a rest position into the ready position and back.

10. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the length or width of the mailpiece measured over the transport path to the printer is used to determine the printing position of the mailpiece and the readiness position and triggering of the printing head and the resetting of the printing head following the printing process/printing path and the return of the printed mailpiece.

11. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the mailpiece is mechanically/friction-fittingly fixed in the printing position by means of a return device during the printing process/printing stroke.

12. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the printing path/printing position of the printing head is determined by the length of the mailpiece measured/detected on the conveying path/conveying section and transmitted to the controller.

13. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the length of the mailpiece is measured at the transport section at one measuring location or between two measuring locations LS1 and LS2 and the measurement results are transmitted to the controller for determining the preparation position of the print head and the printing position of the mailpiece.

14. Method according to claim 13, characterized in that the distance between the two measuring points LS1 and LS2 is smaller than or at least corresponds to the length of the shortest mailpiece determined for printing/stamping.

15. Device for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, consisting of a printing machine (3) and a transport device (50) arranged upstream of the printing machine for transporting a mailpiece (2) that is drawn off or fed individually in a separating device (4) at or from the underside of a stack (5), which is fed via a switch (23) arranged at a transport section (6) of the transport device (50) to a printing unit (30) configured with a controlled printing head (31), and is guided back into a set-up placement device (17) after a printing process via a diverted switch (23), characterized in that the printing head (31) is configured by a sensor (34) connected to a control device (35) facing the front end of the mailpiece (2) that is guided into a printing position of the printing machine (3).

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, characterized in that the opening area into the printing mechanism (30) of the printer (3) is constructed by a return device which holds the mailpiece (2) in the printing position.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, characterized in that the return device is constructed by a pair of conveying rollers (20, 21) arranged one above the other, which mechanically or friction-fittingly hold the mailpieces (2) in the printing position respectively.